


All-Stars and Ice

by Ubiquitous_Chaos (Chameowmile)



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: #and so Earl has to come to his rescue, Carlos is studying trees, M/M, unadulterated fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 15:18:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4710749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chameowmile/pseuds/Ubiquitous_Chaos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos is a terrible outdoorsman and so needs rescued by his friendly neighborhood survivalist.<br/>Edit: Like with any story I write, I changed the title again</p>
            </blockquote>





	All-Stars and Ice

**Author's Note:**

> WHAT'S THIS MADNESS  
> A ONE SHOT?  
> WRITTEN BY ME?  
> AS IN  
> A FINISHED STORY?  
> MY GOD

He came for science.

As part of a twenty year, country-wide study on pine-beetles, it’s become imperative that he check the trees four to eight times a year for beetle activity and record his findings, so that, in the future, the results can be used to help better understand the rate and impact of the insects, as well as, perhaps, a way to stop them.

Carlos has never been especially fond of roughnecking it out in the wilderness, or even hiking on a trail, so it makes sense that he was mildly unprepared for this particular trek.

Sure he brought his usual supplies. Gatorade, snacks, a first aid kit, a flair, etc. etc., but it had never occurred to him that he might need to learn how to actually use some of those items.

The first aid kit, specifically.

It seems binding a (possibly) broken leg, a bruised rib, and a dislocated shoulder is pretty much impossible without the aid of another person. At least, if you’re a huge wimp like  he tends to be about pain, and don’t want to hurt yourself.

The accident had occurred fairly simply.

With the ground hard and fairly icy, he’d been slipping all morning in his worn out all-stars. A fact which wasn’t exactly helped by their refusal to stay tied.

He took a nasty tumble down a slope because of it. One full of plenty of trees, spiny shrubs, and, of course, the obligatory barbed wire fence, marking off some rich vacationing Californian’s land.

Here, the flair is not just useless, thanks to the height of the trees, it’s dangerous., because half of the plants are so dead and gone that even the mere thought of lighting a fire could set them ablaze.

He’s studying pine-beetles here for a reason.

And so he sits, helpless beside a little creek, praying to _s_ _omebody_ that his phone reception will decide to suddenly start working.

Bleeding from the tumble down, he closes his eyes, attempting to think of nicer things that won’t make him puke or faint.

It’s not an easy task.

He resists the urge to just put his headphones on, and sits  in patient silence, for other people or things to come around, since honestly, his hearing is one of the few useful senses he has left now that he seems to have lost his glasses in his fall.

He rubs his temples irritably. Even if he managed to climb back up the slope, his car is three miles down the path. He’d never make it on his own.

He should have dressed more warmly. The temperature is only going to drop further as night comes, and tomorrow it’s supposed to peter off into the low negatives somewhere.

He sighs, studying his breath in the air for a moment before it fades.

This all kind of sucks because he knows that no one is even aware he came up here.

He doesn’t have any friends, so why the hell would he have told them where he was going, and his family all either don’t talk to him or live in other states, so why would he have told them either?

The rest of the day passes him by uneventfully, and as dusk hits, he finally caves and pulls on his headphones, figuring that, regardless of whether or not he can hear a bear, he can’t really fend it off either way, so he’d rather be eaten while he’s still oblivious than when he’s freaking out.

The night passes much like the day had. Except with him being half frozen and completely exhausted.

It starts to snow at some point, and his battery dies, leaving him in silence again.

He somehow manages to nod off, but fitfully of course.

He can’t say how much time has passed when the sound of heavy, nearing footsteps finally reaches his ears, thudding closer and closer.

Still on the cusp of sleep, he nearly has a heartattack when a hand lands on his dislocated shoulder.

He jerks away, but before he can freak out too much, the person steps away, giving him space, and time to relax.

 _He’s_ certainly packed for a camping trip. Heavy layers, bundles of supplies on his back, and a few bags at his hip. He pulls out a blanket from one and reapproaches, tossing it over Carlos’ shoulders. He’s a little taller than Carlos himself is, but looks about his own age, even with the freckles.

He looks like he could probably take down a bear, as well.

“I take it you’re not a seasoned hiker.” The man muses quietly, pulling the blanket tight.

Carlos lets out a small defeated noise at that, and drops his head.

The man pets him almost apologetically on the shoulder.

“Does it hurt?”

Carlos nods weakly.

“Where else?”

He doesn’t humor that with a response. Shivering far too much to speak and just tries to urge the blanket to warm him faster.

The man clicks his tongue disapprovingly, and starts running his hands over his cuts and bruises.

“I’ll take a chance and assume you’re not currently at risk of dying right now. But, moving you might hurt a-lot, so is it okay if I pick you up?”

Carlos nods. He’s too numb from cold to feel much right now, anyway.

The man lifts him with a fascinating ease, and hoists him up into his arms.

It hurts like hell, especially around his rib, knocking the breath right out of him, but this is countered by how cozy the man himself feels, after so long in the snow.

The man rubs his shoulders reassuringly. ““My camp site’s not far from here. We’ll get you warmed up, and take you home in the morning, okay?”

Carlos chokes through chattering teeth.

“N...not tonight?”

“Do you really want to go trudging around in search of your car in the middle of the night?”

“N...no.”

“Thought so.”

***

The man, whose name turns out to be Earl, has an actual campsite nearby. The sort that looks weirdly permanent, despite consisting only of a tent and some cooking supplies.

Carlos is lain down beside a warm fire, where he’s bundled in a heavy blanket and treated for injuries. He doesn’t fuss much as Earl works, gently fixing his frostnip, and splinting his leg. Perhaps it’s just that he’s a little dazed without his glasses, or perhaps it’s just that he’s in shock, but either way, he hardly reacts when the stranger resets his shoulder.

The pain is blinding, but he manages not to freak out.

It’s not until he tries to undress the scientist that his brain finally decides to panic.

He yelps, and jerks away, nearly kneeing the stranger in the stomach as the man tries to hold him still, suddenly pinning him.

He blinks, eyes going wide, before suddenly releases Carlos and scrambling back from the dazed scientist..

“Oh God! I’m sorry! I just wanted to look at your rib! I didn’t mean to startle you!”

Carlos chokes, face reddening in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, it’s reflex...y...you can look.”

Earl grimaces, not looking quite convinced, but nods.

“Alright.”

***

“Definitely cracked.” He murmurs, running his fingers over the bruised flesh. “But you’ll probably live.”

“Probably?” Carlos simpers, as Earl releases him in favor of finding some bandages nearby to bind the injury with.

“Definitely.” He corrects. “Just don’t move too much.”

Carlos sighs, but obliges.

***

He feels a thousand times better once Earl is done patching him up, though that’s probably partially due to the fact that he’s been dosed a couple painkillers and can’t feel anything.

As it turns out, the two of them have quite a bit more in common than he’d initially thought. Sure the guy’s apparently some hardcore survivalist, living out in the elements for some reason, but he’s smart, and brimming with curiosity.

He doesn’t even seem bored when Carlos loopily mumbles about the elements song, and describes the cellular construction of snowflakes in excruciating detail once the weather begins to go a bit south.

They abandon the fire a few hours later, and Earl allows Carlos to use his notably small tent for the evening. He makes an attempt to leave, mumbling something about having slept outside in the past, but the scientist refuses to let him go, and so, with an embarrassing lack of resistance from the survivalist, they end up snuggled up together for the evening.

Morning brings many bad things.

Carlos is miserable and in pain, and where Earl had previously been nuzzled up to him, there  is only an empty space. A part of him almost wonders if he imagined the man in some kind of hypothermic haze.

Too sore to move, he doesn’t even waste the energy to go and check for him, and instead continues lying there, miserable and cursing his overactive sense of attachment to people as he blearily watches shapes dimple in the sunlight across the tent’s canvas.

If it were warmer, he’d almost feel nostalgic for the camping trips he once took as a child, but it’s not, and so he’s more miserable than anything.

Earl returns roughly ten minutes later, drenched in snow, and bundled up like a mama’s boy from Boston. Carlos manages to catch a glimpse of him beneath all the layers, but pretty much has to wait for him to begin pulling them off for it to matter.

He looks absolutely exhausted, and the scientist can’t help but wonder how long he’s been gone for.

“What time is it?” He asks quietly.

Earl grunts noncommitally, falling back beside the injured man as he finally pulls off his boots and kicks them aside.

“Noon.”

Carlos hesitantly reaches over, and presses a freezing hand to the man’s even more frozen cheek.

“What were you doing out there?” He chides with a sigh, as he stiffly throws the edge of his own blanket over the man’s form, pulling him in gently.

He merely chuckles in response.

“Looking.”

“For what?”

There’s a moment’s pause before he smiles and produces something from his pocket.

“I was gonna try and pull your truck up for you, but realized I didn’t have your car keys, so I went looking for them where you fell.”

Carlos frowns, pretty sure they’re still in the truck.

“Did you find them?” He asks anyway.

“Nope, but it doesn’t matter.” Earl muses. “The snow’s too deep to drive out of here right now, so we can look later or I’ll just carry you to safety.”

Carlos can’t help but giggle at the latter, but has his train of thought interrupted when something is pressed into his fingers beneath the blanket.

“My glasses!” He cries, pulling them up into view, only to pause. “The right lense is missing…”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. Couldn’t find it. Good thing you had those on, though, right? An impact like that to the face couldn’t have been good.””

He pushes the bent up glasses on with a cheeky grin, and smiles.

“I can see you!”

Earl’s really cute in high definition.

But he does look tired.

Earl snorts.

“You’re kind of a dork, you know that?”

“I wear converses, what do you expect?” He teases back, lying down. “But that’s not bad, is it?”

“Not at all, except maybe when you’re walking on ice.”

“Pfft. that’s not what I meant!”

“Oh yeah?”

***

Hot chocolate makes everything better, Carlos thinks. Especially when it has painkillers and nyquil in it.

He giggles quietly. That’s probably a bad combo, but he’s too loopy to care right now.

After a few hours of napping, Earl is finally awake, and so, the two of them are just sitting on a now defrosted log by the fire, now that the snow has melted.

“That was a pretty unimpressive storm.” Earl muses quietly, apparently unbothered by the way Carlos is currently leaning against him, head on his shoulder. “It shouldn’t be too hard to make it back down the mountains this way.”

“Oh good!” Carlos giggles, nuzzling him gently. “I can go home!”

“Hospital first.” He retorts quietly, only to grin, and tousle the scientist’s hair. “Would I be able to visit you sometime?”

“At the hospital?”

“No, at your home!” He laughs…”Though expect some care packages.”

“I   _dunno_.” Carlos drawls. “I rather like it here. You’ve got it   _made_.”

Earl snorts at that. “I do have an actual house you know.”

“Oh? What? Where?”

“Top of the mountain.”

“The cabin?”

“That’s the one!”

“Oh man, I used to think that place was haunted.” He giggles. “Is it?”

“Only one way to find out.”

“That so?”

“Mmhm.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, leave a comment or kudos uvu  
> or visit me at Kevin-the-chicken.tumblr.com  
> <3 thnks bbys


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